You know those stickers they pass out at meet & greets?
They say, “Hello, I’m”, and then you write your name on the sticker.
Once you’ve written your name in it, you slap that baby on your shirt and wear it so people know who you are and what to call you.
In other words, you tell people your name.
But are you?
Hello, I’m….Katie.
Here’s what I also hear coming out of my mouth.
I am broke.
I am lonely.
I am disorganized.
I am bad at math.
I am inconsistent.
I am struggling.
I am invisible.
Imagine coming up to me at a meet & greet, looking at my name tag, and reading “Hello, I’m Broke”.
On one hand, it’s hilarious in a transparent, vulnerable kind of way.
Like, yeah, we’re all out here feeling feelings and navigating the wide range of human emotions and experiences.
It’s one thing to say, “I feel broke”.
But that’s never what I actually say.
Semantics? Yeah. Sure.
But also, pretty powerful stuff.
There are two phrases I love when it comes to how we name ourselves.
One is it doesn’t matter what they call you, only what you answer to.
The other is we teach people how to treat us.
I like these because they both imply massive responsibility.
In short, its up to us to name ourselves.
No matter how many names we’ve been given throughout our lives, it’s you who writes your name with the magic marker on the sticker.
So, if you’re being treated like a broke, lonely, inconsistent person (for example), take a look at your name tag and I’ll bet you 10 bucks you wrote it there yourself.
What I mean is, listen to yourself and what you say.
How often do you find yourself saying, ” I’m ___________ (something yucky).
Did you relate to anything I wrote on my list?
Or do you hear yourself saying other things, like:
I am sick.
I am in trouble.
I am tired.
I am frustrated
I am overwhelmed
I am so pissed off.
I am a mess.
The list goes on, doesn’t it?
The reason I bring this up is because it’s The Mermaid’s season, and this archetype teaches us to name ourselves.
It’s her job to teach us this because she really knows herself.
She knows who she is.
She names herself.
And she doesn’t take that lightly.
This archetype (aka this facet of your psyche) knows that your name tells people who you are and what to call you.
Do I want people to think “she is Katie“, or “she is broke“?
This is a game changer.
It solves so many mysteries; why we are treated in certain ways, why we find ourselves in the same predicament over and over.
The Mermaid archetype, unlike The Little Mermaid, has her voice and she uses it to tell people who she is.
So, who are you?
Who are you?
Me?
I am independent.
I am resilient.
I am inventive.
I am creative.
I am showing up.
I am curious.
Like, so much better. Right?
More accurate.
As we walk through the threshold of light half to dark half, pretend it’s your first day at a new school or a new job.
Start over. Clean slate. Take this opportunity to introduce yourself accurately.
Take that magic marker and write a name that’s who you really are.
And watch your reality change.
love and thresholds,
xo
kv
